The present invention is an application with a request for priority based on Republic of Korea Patent Application Nos. 2001-48378 and 2001-73195, and relates to a vehicle diagnosis and management system using a smartcard. More particularly, the present invention relates to vehicle diagnosis system and method enabling vehicle diagnoses by collecting data occurring from a vehicle and reading the collected vehicle-related data on-line and off-line in use of the smartcard and a smartcard control unit, and to a method for automatically setting driver""s convenience apparatus inside the vehicle by using the smartcard.
Prior vehicle maintenance and management basically has lots of non-systematic and arbitrary sides. A driver relies on his own vehicle-related knowledge as to various normal and abnormal functions of the vehicle or is able to judge if the vehicle functions are normal or abnormal through check engine warning lights and the like on the dashboard which are transferred from the engine control unit (ECU) of the vehicle. In addition, a vehicle repair shop suffers difficulties as to precise judgments since no grounds on obvious signs exist as to various problems, such as poor ignition, engine trouble, transmission trouble, abruptly or continuously occurring in diverse vehicle circumstances such as the starting and driving of the vehicles and the like, so that most vehicle repairs are carried out based on mechanics"" experiences due to difficulties as to precise judgments. Accordingly, different diagnoses are made among mechanics based on their experiences as to the same vehicle problem, and the cases that improper maintenances are carried out on the basis of their experiences exist all the time, which has a serious influence on vehicle safety as well as which causes various problems such as vehicle lifespan reduction, repair cost increase, distrust on vehicle sale companies, and so on.
In the meantime, in replacing vehicle consumables every certain period for enabling the maintenance of the optimal states of a vehicle, since a driver, at present, replaces the consumables either based on driver""s incorrect knowledge on vehicle consumables replacements or by asking a mechanic one by one whether the consumables replacements are necessary whenever the driver visits repair shops, it is impossible to maintain optimal vehicle states, which causes the aforementioned various vehicle maintenance problems.
In order to provide some solutions to such problems, in conventional, an individual himself prepares a vehicle management note and records consumables replacements or repair contents in detail or some repair shops do the recordation and management for the vehicle management note for the purpose of recruiting customers. However, such methods are very inconvenient since a user, for the former case, writes maintenance and consumables replacement contents one by one as well as have high possibility for the contents to be missed due to user""s mistakes and the like. Further, for the latter, more systematic managements are available than the former, but it is a problem that the user has to be a customer of one designated repair shop. In recent, lots of programs appear to manage materials in a form of the vehicle management note and to provide various additional services by using the internet as to vehicle consumables replacement periods, but, for this, a user has to input data one by one as in the above vehicle management note, and environmental restriction conditions exist that the user can use the program only when connectable on-line all the time.
In the meantime, with respect to vehicular convenience apparatus settings, in conventional, the vehicular convenience apparatus is adjusted by using only various mechanical devices, but, in recent, with introductions of various electronic systems within a vehicle such convenience apparatus settings and adjustments become convenient in a motor-driven manner using electronically controllable motors. However, in case that a vehicle is driven by more than one driver who have different physical conditions and sensitivities, each time one driver uses the vehicle after another, the driver should re-adjust all the convenience apparatus, such as driver""s seat position, rear view mirror and room mirror angles, favorite radio frequencies, and so on, to be fit to himself, which causes inconvenience a lot.
The present invention is to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present to maximize drivers"" convenience and differentiate products and services by enabling to systematically diagnose a vehicle and to maintain optimal convenience apparatus settings according to respective drivers.
In more detail, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and a method enabling drivers to check vehicular consumables replacement periods and whether maintenance is required, take his vehicle to a repair shop when appropriate, and have the consumables replacements and maintenance performed out by collecting and storing output data of various mechanical and electronic devices such as sensors, engine control unit (ECU), transmission control unit (TCU), and the like, in use of a smartcard, enabling to diagnose vehicle problems on-line and off-line by using the stored data, analyzing the data and notifying the users of the analyzed results by executing independent programs on-line as to log data stored in the smartcard or by connecting to a server on-line.
Further, it is another object of the present invention to provide, in case of a repair shop, vehicle maintenance system and method enabling systematic and expert vehicle maintenance by reading on-line or off-line the log data stored in the smartcard as to various vehicle problems intermittently or continuously occurring and carrying out the maintenance based on the read data, to thereby enable systematic and integral vehicle diagnoses and managements by storing vehicle maintenance records and consumables replacement records in the smartcard.
Another object of the present invention, for vehicle sale companies, is to collect and database various vehicle maintenance-related data transferred on-line through the smartcard, grasp vehicle problems on sale, to thereby use the collected data as basic data for complementing the vehicles on sale and developing new vehicle models in the future.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for providing a driver with more comfortable and convenient driving environments by allowing the driver to automatically set the driver""s convenience apparatus when riding the vehicle in use of the smartcard.
In order to achieve the above objects, a system for collecting and diagnosing vehicle data comprises a smartcard having vehicle-related data consisting of basic vehicle information data and vehicle maintenance information data; and a smartcard control unit(SCU) connected to electronic control units, mechanical control units, and sensors within a vehicle, and for collecting vehicle information, reading the vehicle-related data from the smartcard, and storing the collected vehicle information in the smartcard. Preferably, the system further comprises a terminal for reading the vehicle-related data from the smartcard, carrying out diagnoses, and storing results in the smartcard.
The smartcard being used in the system of the present invention includes the basic vehicle information data indicating vehicle-inherent information data and information data as to an owner of the vehicle and the vehicle maintenance information data containing data indicating information outputted from various vehicular control units and sensors and data inputted from exterior as to vehicle diagnoses and maintenance.
Further, the smartcard control unit used in the system of the present invention includes a vehicle interface for inputting data as to vehicle states from the mechanical control units, electronic control units, and sensors inside the vehicle; a first memory for storing data indicating vehicle states collected from the control units and sensors through the vehicle interface; a second memory for storing data transferred from the smartcard as to vehicle diagnosis and maintenance items; a third memory for storing vehicle-inherent information data such as vehicle delivery date, frame number, engine number, vehicle kind, year, and displacement volume that are unchangeable items out of the basic vehicle information data; a fourth memory for storing the convenience apparatus setting values of a present driver; a card interface for interfacing the smartcard and the smartcard control unit; a processor for controlling the vehicle interface, first memory, second memory, third memory, fourth memory, and card interface, and carrying out calculations; and a ROM including a program for controlling the processor.
Further, the terminal used in the system of the present invention includes a card terminal for reading the vehicle-related data from the smartcard and storing processed vehicle-related data in the smartcard; and a personal computer (PC) for executing a vehicle diagnosis program as to the vehicle-related data read from the smartcard, diagnosing the vehicle, displaying maintenance items based on the diagnosis results and storing the results in the smartcard, or a mobile communication terminal connecting to a main server of a central A/S center through a network such as the internet, and receiving and outputting results which are processed in the main server of the central A/S center.
A method for collecting vehicle data in the system of the present invention comprises steps of transferring self diagnosis commands to the respective control units inside the vehicle and receiving responses to the self diagnosis commands; determining whether the received responses are normal ones and, if the received responses are not normal ones, storing the smartcard control unit error codes received as the responses; determining whether the smartcard is inserted and authenticating the inserted smartcard; storing in the authenticated smartcard the error codes stored in the smartcard control unit; and comparing the smartcard control unit data and the smartcard data and, if different, updating the data stored in the smartcard control unit and the smartcard.
In the meantime, a method for diagnosing the collected vehicle data off-line by using the smartcard in the system of the present invention comprises steps of executing a vehicle diagnosis program in a terminal; inserting the smartcard in the terminal and authenticating whether diagnosing the smartcard by the program is available; reading the vehicle-related data stored in the authenticated smartcard; executing the diagnosis program as to the read vehicle-related data and performing vehicle diagnoses; and displaying the diagnosis results on a user""s terminal.
In the meantime, a method for diagnosing the collected vehicle data on-line by using the smartcard in the system of the present invention comprises steps of inserting the smartcard in a terminal; connecting the terminal to a main server of a central A/S center through a network and authenticating whether the smartcard is available for services by the main server of the central A/S center; transferring the collected vehicle-related data from the smartcard to the main server of the central A/S center if the smartcard is authenticated; diagnosing the vehicle as to the collected vehicle-related data and storing the diagnosis results; and transferring the diagnosis results to the terminal, displaying the results on the terminal, and recording the results in the smartcard.